Stagecoach 2014: Jason Aldean, Hunter Hayes amp up second day crowd but legends like Don McLean prove they still got it

INDIO >> Youthful energy took over the Stagecoach Country Music Festival on the second day of the sold out three-day festival, pumping up the crowd that seemed to lag on opening day.

Mane Stage headliner Jason Aldean performed his energetic country rap on songs like “Dirt Road Anthem” and “1994” as well as a cover of Kid Rock’s “Cowboy” during an encore while many young fan danced during his set.

Hunter Hayes, 22, ran back and forth on the Mane Stage like he owned the place while performing hits like the appropriately titled “I Want Crazy” and listening to the fans in the audience, he could definitely headline next year. Ashley Monroe had no shame in explicitly stating on stage that she wanted “weed instead of roses,” though the 27-year-old Knoxville belle quickly added: “it’s really just a love song. It ain’t all that bad.”

Danielle Bradbery, 17-year-old winner of season 4 of “The Voice”, also rocked the Mane Stage early Saturday, singing songs off her debut album, covering “Roar” by Katy Perry and “Try” by P!nk to the glee of the crowd’s cowgirls who attended her performance. She ended with her hit single “Heart of Dixie,” to which the crowd sang along with gusto.

McLean, unaware of the celebrities in the audience, brought down the house with American classic “American Pie,” to which the audience raised their hands and beers while singing along to the infectious hook.

“It’s amazing. There were 17- to 70-year-olds in there singing and dancing the whole time,” said 62-year-old Sean Wood of Rancho Mirage. “It’s an anthem that knows no age.”

As Kutcher and Kunis showed, older acts like McLean were a hot item including the Long Beach formed country-folk band Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. The band, created in 1966, drew a packed crowd to the Palomino Stage and didn’t disappoint with classics like “Fishin’ In The Dark.”

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While she was performing, Trampled By Turtles on the next stage over had a predominately young audience dancing to their songs like “Alone.”